Dream Tropes Wiki/The Kiddie Ride
Ah, kiddie rides. Those things that practically suck the spare change out of your pockets (particularly if you're a parent) and are largely found in or near shopping malls. The things that attract little kids (and Periphery Demographic crowds like bored or drunken teenagers) like magnets. Originally invented as a Christmas present by an engineer for his kids, and then commercialized as a portable alternative of the carousel (and additional income earner for grocers), these have since crossed into Merchandise-Driven (and occasionally, Misaimed Marketing) subtrope territory with the introduction of the licensed kiddie ride. Now kids will be able to rent up to one and a half minutes of their favorite characters' time for a dollar or two. Subset of The Merch. If a TV show targeted at children gets very popular, it's bound to spawn at least one kiddie ride. If it has an Earworm theme tune, the ride will play a snippet of it every five minutes to attract attention, and on repeat while in operation. Anime * Samurai Pizza Cats spawned one in 1995 of the Supreme Catatonic in Sphinx mode by Oceanic Ride Technologies, some of which were converted to Sagwa rides by PlayTech in 2003. The ride is interactive with a CRT video screen and features the original character voices, plus it features figures of Speedy, Polly, and Guido hanging onto the nose of the Catatonic. One was found at a Chuck E. Cheese's in Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. in mint condition. A Spanish-language version was sold to Latin American regions, one of the Spanish versions was found at a Mi Juguetería in Guayaquil, Ecuador. * Many Drillimation rides exist, most of which were made by EMT. * The DiC dub of Sailor Moon spawned two, the blimp from one of the Japanese OP's and a modified version of the Japanese one, both from Videotronics Rides. The titular character exists on the blimp as a figure on the side of the ride. Around Christmas times in the late 90's, some of the Sailor Moon figures on the blimps would be replaced with a Santa Claus one. The blimp plays the DiC dub's theme song while it's in motion. Some of the Videotronics blimps have been spotted out in the open, one is used as a photo-op at a Newbury Comics in Bellingham, Massachusetts, U.S. while another was found in Canada (where said dub was made) at the Montreal Eaton Centre. Some of the Videotronic blimps were exported to German-speaking regions, the German versions play the German theme "Sag das Zauberwort" when in motion, one of the German versions was strangely found at a Walmart in Keyser, West Virginia, U.S. (likely due to a shipping mixup by Videotronics) while another was found in Bremen, Germany at a shopping centre. * Adventures of the Little Koala spawned several from PlayTech. Some of them were imported to Japan (where the show originated) and placed in shopping centers in high tourism areas. Live-Action TV * Rescue 911: Around 1994, 4 rides were made by Videotronics Rides to promote the MTM syndie version. You get to drive either an ambulance, fire truck, police car, or Coast Guard boat with cardboard cutouts of William Shatner and emergency personnel in the backseat. The rides feature ride start messages recorded by Shatner himself, and they play an extended version of the MTM syndie theme song when in motion. The Coast Guard boat is pretty rare, according to former Videotronics employees only 150 were made in Videotronics' Barry kiddie ride factory, though there is one Coast Guard boat at a Ocean State Job Lot in Gardner, Massachusetts, United States. Around the late 90's, some of the Coast Guard boats were refurbished into Theodore Tugboat rides. * Zoboomafoo: With Zoboo in the back seat of a green jeep, produced by PlayTech. * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Around the mid-90's, 5 rides were made by PlayTech. You get to drive the Dinozord Ultrazord, Red Ranger's Battle Bike, Dinozord Megazord, Tigerzord, or Red Dragon Thunderzord. Theater * Cats spawned one of Victoria and Mr. Mistoffelees in a rusty old shopping cart, made by Oceanic Ride Technologies. It was usually only used to entice kids to come to showings of the play and brought out to theaters showing productions of it, however some were sold to shopping centers and stores: one was found in a Target in Leominster, Massachusetts, U.S. of all places. There was also a carousel made in limited numbers by Ride On! Entertainment. * Starlight Express has Rusty on top of a flatbed railcar (which is stupid if you realize the fact that the characters are anthropomorphic locomotives) also from Oceanic Ride Technologies. It's pretty rare and was usually found in Tesco shops in the United Kingdom; though some ended up going Stateside: one was found at a Chuck E. Cheese's in Manchester, New Hampshire. Music * Devo got a energy dome ride in the mid-2000's courtesy of Xin Xin Rides. In 2013, Videotronics Rides (who bought Xin Xin in 2009) reissued it recolored blue, and again in 2018 recolored orange. The ride (predictably) plays "Whip It" when in motion, and has a ride start message read out by General Boy. * KISS has several, most of them from Videotronics Rides. Video Games * Mega Man: Around 1992, PlayTech made a ride where you get to ride in a car modeled after the Rush Jet with a figure of Mega Man standing next to the seat. PlayTech also made a ride modeled after the Rush Marine, but the Rush Marine ride is a pretty rare ride as opposed to the Rush Jet ride. Western Animation * Care Bears spawned one of Love-A-Lot Bear and Grumpy Bear in a cloud shaped car, produced by PlayTech in 1984. * Wayside spawned one of Todd and Maurecia in a school bus, produced by Xin Xin Rides. One was found at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S. in a slightly damaged condition. * Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat spawned four: two by Videotronics Rides featuring Sagwa, Dongwa, and Sheegwa in a cart and Sheegwa chasing a butterfly respectively; some conversions from Samurai Pizza Cats rides by PlayTech; and a carousel by Ride On! Entertainment. The cart ride features a ride start message recorded by Holly G. Frankel as Sagwa and the Sheegwa ride features Jesse Vinet as Sheegwa. The SPC ride conversions feature Holly G. Frankel, Oliver Grainger, and Jesse Vinet as Sagwa, Dongwa, and Sheegwa respectively, plus a ride start message recorded by Rick Jones as Fu-Fu. The cart plays the theme song whilst it's in motion and has buttons that play sound clips from the show, whilst the Sheegwa ride plays selections from the show's soundtrack. * The Sweet Treets has several: many were made by ATM Italy in the 80's and 90's, the rest in the 2000's and 2010's by PlayTech. * Theodore Tugboat: The titular character from Videotronics Rides. Some were refurbished Rescue 911 coast guard boat rides. * What's With Andy?: Andy in a van, produced by Xin Xin Rides. The ride is still in production by Xin Xin's successor Videotronics Rides as of 2018, years after the show was cancelled (and no longer running in the United States). * Ready Jet Go! has gotten one of Jet and Sunspot in a UFO, courtesy of Videotronics Rides. Category:Tropes Category:Kiddie rides Category:Rides Category:Kids Category:Dream Fiction Wiki